Difficult airway in advanced Bechterew's disease: case report.

Advanced Bechterew's disease presents with increasing ossification of spinal column, from lower lumbar segments upwards, first causing impossibility to place spinal block in lumbar region, and later, due to stiffness of cervical spine, difficult intubation because of inability to extend and/or flex the neck during direct laryngoscopy and intubation. Mask ventilation, on the other hand, usually is possible. We report a case of a 77-year-old man scheduled for elective hernioplasty, with recently advanced Bechterew's disease. According to the recently accepted Mainz algorithm, we first intended to perform awake intubation through the nose by fiber bronchoscope. The bronchoscope passed easily down to tracheal bifurcation, but placing the endotracheal tube was unexpectedly impossible due to the consequences of broken nose the patient had suffered at the age of 8. Fiber bronchoscope was therefore retracted, and we used the Bonfils rigid fiberscope after induction of general anesthesia, achieving intubation in first attempt.